A few moments ago I was tempted to peep into her room and satisfy myself that she was not ailing. A headache is the common precursor to many maladies. But I remembered my promise and refrained. The cooing notes of the voice would have called me to her side, and her arms would have been around my neck and I should have forgotten Judith.
CHAPTER XVII
October 28th.
I rose late this morning. When I went down to breakfast I found that Carlotta had already gone for her music lesson.
I drove at once to the Temple to see my lawyers and to make arrangements for a marriage by special license.
I returned at one o’clock. Stenson met me in the hall.
“I beg your pardon, Sir Marcus, but Mademoiselle hasn’t come back yet.”
I waited an uneasy hour. Such a lengthy absence from home was unprecedented. At two o’clock I went round to Herr Stuer in the Avenue Road—a five minutes’ walk.
He entered the sitting-room into which I had been ushered, wiping his lips.